


anatidae

by canonlytrans



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Ficlet, Trans Duck Newton, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 05:48:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15879807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canonlytrans/pseuds/canonlytrans
Summary: Duck's a nickname.





	anatidae

Duck’s just a nickname, you say when people at school ask who the hell names their kid _Duck_. Except it's become more than just a nickname. Duck, bad boy, Chosen One, park ranger, Pine Guard - you go through all these and more, forty when you finally have a grip on your life.

But Duck’s not a nickname. 

You're eleven when you're forced, abruptly, out of the closet. Well, forced isn't the right word, but it's closest. Your family accepts you, because of _course_ they do, even though it's the 80s and most transgender people are considered weird. You're no longer their daughter. You're their son. 

_What do you want your name to be?_ asks your mom, smiling, and you look at the book in your hands and then up at your mom and back down at the book. _Duck,_ you say, hand on the full page illustration of a duck swimming on a lake. 

_That's not a real name,_ says your mom, laughing. _How about Aaron? Jackson?_

No, you think. You're Duck. 

So it becomes a nickname, except when it doesn't. You grow up, meet Minerva, get drawn into a destiny you definitely don't want (with a talking sword to boot!) So you become a park ranger, but you stay in Kepler. It's the only way you can take charge of your ‘destiny.’ Fuck destiny, _you_ get to choose how your lame life goes. 

You transition, though it takes years and a lot of money, get your name legally changed, but you're still Duck Newton. Your destiny keeps following you and you ignore it until that fateful day, as your world is flipped upside down and you meet two people like you - normal, but not _really_. Aubrey Little, a magician with real magic. Ned Chicane (you've known him a while but you're not close), ex-con and now fellow Pine Guard member. And you protect Kepler, the three of you. 

And yeah, you stay Duck.


End file.
